As Lebanon places its hopes on direct negotiations with Israel, Hezbollah continues to insist that the Lebanese file be tied to Iran-US talks, with party officials declaring Sunday that Lebanon would be the first item in any final agreement.
Days before a sixth round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations expected in Rome, Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said Iranian officials had assured Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem that Lebanon would top the agenda of any potential final agreement with Washington.
“The first item will be a permanent ceasefire, an end to the war and an Israeli withdrawal,” Hajj Hassan told a memorial ceremony, calling this a clear and sufficient Iranian commitment.
He also denounced the Framework Agreement between Lebanon and Israel as “full of sins, flaws and loopholes.” It linked redeployment to pilot zones whose number and size remained unclear, he argued, while making disarmament dependent on Israeli satisfaction with the outcome.
Hajj Hassan renewed Hezbollah’s refusal to surrender its weapons. “Disarmament is unattainable,” he told Lebanese officials. “You will not be able to achieve it, and we will not hand over our weapons.”
Fellow Hezbollah MP Ibrahim Mousawi likewise reaffirmed support for the “resistance and its leadership,” maintaining that its popular base would remain steadfast despite mounting pressure.
Mousawi claimed Lebanon was the first item in the memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States in Islamabad. He also criticized Lebanon’s negotiating track, arguing that sovereignty was achieved through defending and sacrificing for the country, not through slogans.
President Joseph Aoun, however, has insisted on keeping the Lebanese and Iranian tracks separate.
“Under no circumstances will I allow anyone to negotiate on Lebanon’s behalf,” Aoun said recently, adding that Lebanon had secured Israeli recognition that it had no territorial ambitions in the country.
“The state’s train has left the station, and the decision to establish a state monopoly on weapons will be implemented,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli violations continued across southern Lebanon early Sunday. Israeli forces demolished homes in Majdal Zoun, fired toward houses in Mansouri and carried out explosions in Bint Jbeil. Artillery struck Kfar Tibnit, while machine-gun fire was reported from Qantara. An Israeli aircraft also dropped a stun grenade near Mansouri, and artillery fire sparked blazes around Hamra Farm, between Zawtar al-Sharqiya, Arnoun and Yohmor al-Shaqif.
Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, maintained that Israel would not allow Hezbollah to rebuild. She wrote on X that the 551st Brigade, under the 91st Division, had completed a two-month deployment in southern Lebanon, during which Israeli troops killed more than 80 Hezbollah members and destroyed over 200 sites, including underground routes, launchers, weapons depots and observation posts.
The developments came as a US military delegation visited Beirut to discuss implementing an Israeli withdrawal from the first pilot zone.
Lebanon, Israel and the United States signed the Framework Agreement in Washington on June 26. It provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal alongside Lebanese Army deployment. Implementation, however, remains stalled by Israel’s demand that further withdrawals be tied to Hezbollah’s disarmament, which the group rejects while continuing to rely on Iran’s role in any future settlement.
